BBD 06.22.21 Being Approachable (Classic)

#1 · June 22, 2021, 8:50 am

Quote from Forum Archives on June 22, 2021, 8:50 am
Posted by: theburningbushdevotional <theburningbushdevotional@...>

Classic from 2002

The Burning Bush Devotional

21 June 2021

Being Approachable

When He
had come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed Him. And behold, a
leper came and worshiped Him, saying, ‘Lord, if You are willing, You can make
me clean.’ Then Jesus put out His hand and touched him, saying, ‘I am willing;
be cleansed.’ Immediately his leprosy was cleansed. - Matthew 8:1-3.

Then
little children were brought to Him that He might put His hands on them and
pray, but the disciples rebuked them. But Jesus said, ‘Let the little children
come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of heaven.’ -
Matthew 19:13-14.

Listening
this morning to Michael Carneal in an interview shown on the Today Show there
was something that struck me as being needed by many, especially Christians.
Michael Carneal was a 14-year-old student at Heath High School in West Paducah,
Kentucky where one morning he shot and killed three fellow students and wounded
five others. Those students were gathered praying around a flagpole. It was and
is a horrendous, terrible thing that destroyed lives and changed lives in a
devastating way. The words that I picked up on this morning were that Carneal
said that he did not have anyone to talk to prior to the shooting including his
parents. At least he did not believe that they would listen. Certainly, that
was not a valid reason or excuse for shooting someone, but it should make all
of us think.

How
approachable are you? The
word “approachable” is defined in
the dictionary as: “easy to
meet or converse or do business with” and as “capable of being
approached; accessible.” Are we following the example of our Lord? Jesus was (and is) the
ultimate in approachability. Lepers were to have no contact with non-lepers and
were banned from even their own families. Lepers had to announce their presence
by shouting as they walked “unclean,” “unclean.” No “clean” person
was to touch the “unclean” or they would also become “unclean.” Jesus
not only allowed lepers to approach and talk to Him, He also touched them. The
ultimate in cleanness on earth touched the unclean.

Jesus
also was approachable not only by adults but also by children. Jesus also
placed His hands on the children and prayed for them (Of course the children
were not unclean but considered by the disciples and others as being unworthy
of attention by a great teacher.). Many others considered outcasts by the
Jewish society were able to approach Jesus including tax collectors,
adulteresses, women of ill repute, and Samaritans. Why did Jesus allow Himself
to be approached by people like these? Jesus explains in Matthew 9:10-12, “Now it happened, as Jesus sat at the table in the house,
that behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Him and His
disciples. And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to His disciples, ‘Why does
your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?’ When Jesus heard that, He
said to them, ‘Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who
are sick.’”

How
approachable are you? Would
any of these “unclean” people be allowed to visit in your
home? Would any of these people be able to talk with you outside of your home?
Would any of these people be able to call you and talk with you by telephone?
Would you even allow any of these people to communicate with you by email?
Before the spiritually sick will be healed, we must allow them to have contact
with us. We must be approachable. Are you?

Copyright © 1998 - 2021. Ed
Wrather. The Burning Bush website has been online since January 31, 1998. On
June 8, 1998 the email version of the Burning Bush Devotional was first sent.
Ed Wrather began writing devotionals in the early 1990s. The distribution of
those first devotionals was primarily through the Burning Bush Newsletter sent
to prison facilities throughout the United States and Canada.

Visit the
Burning Bush website:

www.theburningbush.net

The Burning Bush websites are
celebrating 23 years online since January 31, 1998. Since June 8, 1998 the
Burning Bush Devotional has been spreading the truth of God's Word to subscribers
across the world. At one time there were 18,000 subscribers in more than 70
countries to the devotional but that has now shrunk to around 9,000.

You can leave comments/feedback
about the devotionals at www.theburningbush.net.

There is a translation tool on
theburningbush.net website in the top right-hand corner of all of the pages.

Check out the Scripture Index being constructed for the Devotionals at
the Burning Bush website. The Links are in about the middle of the home page.
Topics for each devotional are now being added to the Index.

Please pray for God to touch and
bring about His will in these lives: Caleb Freeman’ Pat S.; Buck & Barbara
Wright; GWEN PRUET; James Perkins and his wife; Vonnie; Evi Porter; Addison;
JoJo, Bailey and Nicky; Ralph and De Chapman; Hilary; Cody Stahlman; Patsy M.; Todd
Higgins; Brandy and Jadyn’s Dad; John W.; Patricia Rohman and Lisa Butler who
has had a stroke; Scott J.; Karla W.; Clayton T. and Sarah; Clark S.; Lana
Bass; Matthew Collins; Marjean C.; Bradley E.; Fern McVey; Bill S.; Shonda Hutson;
and Sharon H.

Please pray for the coronavirus
COVID19 pandemic to come to an end. Pray for treatments and a cure for the
virus to be rapidly found and deployed. Pray for all those afflicted to be
healed and for our leaders to have supernatural wisdom and ability to lead us
through this pandemic.

Please pray for an end to the
rioting, looting, wanton destruction, and the racial hatred in the USA and that
it will be replaced with peace and love. May God help the USA! Many prayer
needs are posted at the Burning Bush website on the Prayer Request page. You
can also post your prayer requests there (Of
course, I am always in need of prayer - please pray for me. 03.18.18 I accepted the call to be the pastor of Fairview
Baptist Church in Elk City, Oklahoma. Please pray for me and for this church.).

You can contact Ed Wrather at
theburningbushdevotional@gmail.com

If you enjoy the devotional please
recommend it to your friends. They may subscribe by sending a blank email to burningbushdevo-join@welovegod.org

There is a complete devotional
archive at the old Burning Bush website. Here is the URL: http://www.theburningbush.org/DevotionalArchive.html.

Devotion vs Devotional: We do our
devotions, we read devotionals.

You can unsubscribe to the burningbushdevo devotional group by
sending a blank email to burningbushdevo-leave@welovegod.org and then respond
to the confirmation email.

You may subscribe to the html text group (Because of time
constraints the devotional is only being sent now in html format) by sending a
blank email to burningbushhtml-join@welovegod.org and you may unsubscribe by
sending a blank email to burningbushhtml-leave@welovegod.org and then respond
to the confirmation email. If the link does not work, copy and paste the link.

--

To unsubscribe, send ANY message to: burningbushdevo-leave@welovegod.org

Posted by: theburningbushdevotional <theburningbushdevotional@...>

Classic from 2002

The Burning Bush Devotional

21 June 2021

Being Approachable

When He
had come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed Him. And behold, a
leper came and worshiped Him, saying, ‘Lord, if You are willing, You can make
me clean.’ Then Jesus put out His hand and touched him, saying, ‘I am willing;
be cleansed.’ Immediately his leprosy was cleansed. - Matthew 8:1-3.

Then
little children were brought to Him that He might put His hands on them and
pray, but the disciples rebuked them. But Jesus said, ‘Let the little children
come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of heaven.’ -
Matthew 19:13-14.

Listening
this morning to Michael Carneal in an interview shown on the Today Show there
was something that struck me as being needed by many, especially Christians.
Michael Carneal was a 14-year-old student at Heath High School in West Paducah,
Kentucky where one morning he shot and killed three fellow students and wounded
five others. Those students were gathered praying around a flagpole. It was and
is a horrendous, terrible thing that destroyed lives and changed lives in a
devastating way. The words that I picked up on this morning were that Carneal
said that he did not have anyone to talk to prior to the shooting including his
parents. At least he did not believe that they would listen. Certainly, that
was not a valid reason or excuse for shooting someone, but it should make all
of us think.

How
approachable are you? The
word “approachable” is defined in
the dictionary as: “easy to
meet or converse or do business with” and as “capable of being
approached; accessible.” Are we following the example of our Lord? Jesus was (and is) the
ultimate in approachability. Lepers were to have no contact with non-lepers and
were banned from even their own families. Lepers had to announce their presence
by shouting as they walked “unclean,” “unclean.” No “clean” person
was to touch the “unclean” or they would also become “unclean.” Jesus
not only allowed lepers to approach and talk to Him, He also touched them. The
ultimate in cleanness on earth touched the unclean.

Jesus
also was approachable not only by adults but also by children. Jesus also
placed His hands on the children and prayed for them (Of course the children
were not unclean but considered by the disciples and others as being unworthy
of attention by a great teacher.). Many others considered outcasts by the
Jewish society were able to approach Jesus including tax collectors,
adulteresses, women of ill repute, and Samaritans. Why did Jesus allow Himself
to be approached by people like these? Jesus explains in Matthew 9:10-12, “Now it happened, as Jesus sat at the table in the house,
that behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Him and His
disciples. And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to His disciples, ‘Why does
your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?’ When Jesus heard that, He
said to them, ‘Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who
are sick.’”

How
approachable are you? Would
any of these “unclean” people be allowed to visit in your
home? Would any of these people be able to talk with you outside of your home?
Would any of these people be able to call you and talk with you by telephone?
Would you even allow any of these people to communicate with you by email?
Before the spiritually sick will be healed, we must allow them to have contact
with us. We must be approachable. Are you?

Copyright © 1998 - 2021. Ed
Wrather. The Burning Bush website has been online since January 31, 1998. On
June 8, 1998 the email version of the Burning Bush Devotional was first sent.
Ed Wrather began writing devotionals in the early 1990s. The distribution of
those first devotionals was primarily through the Burning Bush Newsletter sent
to prison facilities throughout the United States and Canada.

Visit the
Burning Bush website:

http://www.theburningbush.net

The Burning Bush websites are
celebrating 23 years online since January 31, 1998. Since June 8, 1998 the
Burning Bush Devotional has been spreading the truth of God's Word to subscribers
across the world. At one time there were 18,000 subscribers in more than 70
countries to the devotional but that has now shrunk to around 9,000.

You can leave comments/feedback
about the devotionals at http://www.theburningbush.net.

There is a translation tool on
theburningbush.net website in the top right-hand corner of all of the pages.

Check out the Scripture Index being constructed for the Devotionals at
the Burning Bush website. The Links are in about the middle of the home page.
Topics for each devotional are now being added to the Index.

Please pray for God to touch and
bring about His will in these lives: Caleb Freeman’ Pat S.; Buck & Barbara
Wright; GWEN PRUET; James Perkins and his wife; Vonnie; Evi Porter; Addison;
JoJo, Bailey and Nicky; Ralph and De Chapman; Hilary; Cody Stahlman; Patsy M.; Todd
Higgins; Brandy and Jadyn’s Dad; John W.; Patricia Rohman and Lisa Butler who
has had a stroke; Scott J.; Karla W.; Clayton T. and Sarah; Clark S.; Lana
Bass; Matthew Collins; Marjean C.; Bradley E.; Fern McVey; Bill S.; Shonda Hutson;
and Sharon H.

Please pray for the coronavirus
COVID19 pandemic to come to an end. Pray for treatments and a cure for the
virus to be rapidly found and deployed. Pray for all those afflicted to be
healed and for our leaders to have supernatural wisdom and ability to lead us
through this pandemic.

Please pray for an end to the
rioting, looting, wanton destruction, and the racial hatred in the USA and that
it will be replaced with peace and love. May God help the USA! Many prayer
needs are posted at the Burning Bush website on the Prayer Request page. You
can also post your prayer requests there (Of
course, I am always in need of prayer - please pray for me. 03.18.18 I accepted the call to be the pastor of Fairview
Baptist Church in Elk City, Oklahoma. Please pray for me and for this church.).

You can contact Ed Wrather at
theburningbushdevotional@gmail.com

If you enjoy the devotional please
recommend it to your friends. They may subscribe by sending a blank email to burningbushdevo-join@welovegod.org

There is a complete devotional
archive at the old Burning Bush website. Here is the URL: http://www.theburningbush.org/DevotionalArchive.html.

Devotion vs Devotional: We do our
devotions, we read devotionals.

You can unsubscribe to the burningbushdevo devotional group by
sending a blank email to burningbushdevo-leave@welovegod.org and then respond
to the confirmation email.

You may subscribe to the html text group (Because of time
constraints the devotional is only being sent now in html format) by sending a
blank email to burningbushhtml-join@welovegod.org and you may unsubscribe by
sending a blank email to burningbushhtml-leave@welovegod.org and then respond
to the confirmation email. If the link does not work, copy and paste the link.

To unsubscribe, send ANY message to: burningbushdevo-leave@welovegod.org